Page 100 of Free to Live
Tears begin to trickle out of my eyes. I nod.
“You became my best friend, someone I cherished as much as I cherished my own family. You were someone I had to keep safe, to protect. And above all, you’re the woman I love.” His voice drops even deeper when he chokes out, “The woman I’ll always love.”
“Joe…” My voice cracks. He’s simply killing me.
My hand is pressed against his chest. My left hand, I notice vaguely. “Marry me. Please. Spend the rest of your life with me, Hols. Love me, love my daughter, love any children we might have together.” His voice breaks on the last. He raises my hand to his mouth, his eyes pleading.
I don’t even need the nanosecond it takes for the word to fly out of my mouth that’s going to change my life. “Yes.”
His eyes flash before his lips part. “Really?”
“How could you doubt it? I love you so much,” I sob, throwing myself into his arms.
Joe crushes me against him, pressing my spine so hard I swear there might be bruises. I don’t care. I don’t care about anything except for the fact I’m going to spend the rest of my life with the man I love.
The man who loves me enough to move beyond his past to ask.
The man I just said yes to.
“Shit! The ring.” Joe releases me to fumble beneath the towels. I laugh, even as I wipe the tears from my eyes.
“I don’t care. We can move straight to…” And then my breath falters.
The ring is a round diamond in rose gold surrounded by pavé diamonds. The overhead lights catch the facets, sending light dancing everywhere. It’s absolutely stunning. “Oh my God,” I gasp.
He slips the ring slowly over the third finger of the hand he’s been holding against his heart. “It had to be perfect. So, I took my mother shopping.”
I smile.
“And Phil.”
“What?” My lips begin trembling again.
Once the ring is lodged at the base of my finger, he presses his lips to it. “Hols, you all didn’t grow up in a traditional family, but that man has been serving two roles for so many years. He’s not only been your brother, but he’s also been your father raising you to be a strong, independent woman who found her happiness. And he succeeded beyond his—anyone’s—wildest imagination. You’re the last girl he has to let go. I wanted him to understand I appreciate the importance of that when I asked for his blessing to marry you.”
I burst into loud tears. From the moment Phil took us in, he’s been a royal pain in our collective asses. He’s been alternately obnoxious, overly protective, and more loving than six men combined. He’s also the worst secret keeper in a family that shares everything. “When…when did you ask?”
Smiling down at me tenderly, he pushes my damp hair off my face. “The night of the barbecue.”
I wail harder. “And he kept a secret that long while he wasn’t under a…an…NDA.” Sobs rack my body as I wrap my arms around his neck. “Thank….thank you for…for being you. For including him. For loving me.”
Standing with me in his arms, Joe sits on the ledge before sliding us out of the tub.
“The last part, my future wife, is my absolute pleasure.”
56
Holly
Joe carries me through the house to a different door than the one he dropped my bags in earlier. “I wanted this to be a surprise.” He leans down and nuzzles my nose. Reaching down with one hand, he pushes the door open.
My slightly swollen eyes bug open when I see the vases of amaryllises mixed with sunflowers. An unusual combination unless you have a brother who’s a florist. “Adoration, loyalty, and longevity,” I whisper the meaning of sunflowers.
Joe chimes in with, “It all started with your determination, pride, and beauty, my love.” Laying me down on the bed, he lifts my wrist with my tattoo—which now also holds my engagement ring.
I’m drowning in the kind of romance I never expected from a man. Ever.
With a single finger, Joe electrifies my skin. He drags that finger from the tip of my damn hair over my cheek, down my chin, and across my nipple, which has pebbled up before he reaches it. Flicking it back and forth with that single finger for just a moment, he continues his descent, down over my ribs, my stomach, my folds until that finger just enters me.
